Losing and Gaining
by Aellepi
Summary: Reiko challenges another spirit to a fight to dispel her boredom. Things don't go the way they usually do, and the consequences of that might be more severe and far-reaching than she thought. A small oneshot


Hello! This fic... Is something that came to my mind when I read a review I got for one of my drabbles. It's pretty weird. Well, maybe not weird. But plenty strange if you think properly on the implications. ^-^ By the by, this is a **oneshot**. No following fics on the implications. Maybe...

I hope you enjoy this!

**Warning:** I had a hard time deciding the rating for this fic. Landed on T and that is the warning, I guess.

**Disclaimer:** Natsume Yuujinchou is not mine. This is pure speculation on my part and has no connection _whatsoever_ with the actual story.

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><p>Reiko stood proud and confident, her golden gaze calm. The wind was blowing from the side, moving her hair in a strange, almost mesmerizing manner, the sunlight entwining with it and setting a blond halo around her. Her sailor uniform was surprisingly neat, considering the amount of time she seemed to spend in the woods in general or fighting or running away.<p>

"Well?" She asked, raising her eyebrow inquiringly.

The man sitting in a cross-legged position in front of her reading a book did not look up. "Well what, Natsume Reiko?" The wind suddenly stopped blowing, a silence of epic proportions descending on the small clearing.

Reiko grinned and let her brown school satchel fall to the ground as she took a step closer to him. "What do you think of my proposition?" She took another step forward, and another, until she was standing a step or so away from him. She slowly bent down, her hair falling to his eyelevel.

Finally, he stirred. Sighing, he looked up at the young woman, his colourless eyes blank. "Your proposition, Natsume Reiko?"

"Yes. My proposition."

Another sigh from him. "And why should I have any kind of thought about your proposition, Natsume Reiko?" He rested his gaze again on the book on his lap, seemingly forgetting everything about Reiko the moment she was out of his sight.

She crouched in front of him and gave him a little grin. "Don't tell me that I don't look delicious. Madara was always saying I smelled yummy. And he wasn't the only one either."

Her words made him raise his eyes again, locking them with her golden ones. "Yummy? Oh, yes, Natsume Reiko. You smell... _yummy_." His voice was disdainful as he spoke the words, a look of disgust flickering across his face for a second.

Reiko laughed and lost her balance, ending up sitting in a similar position to him. She laughed even harder. "If Madara could hear or see you now, he'd be trying to kill you immediately!"

He watched impassively as she giggled to herself. He hummed thoughtfully and closed the book. The quiet sound sounded loud in the clearing and made Reiko stop immediately. He brought a hand to his chin and tapped it, deep in thought still, "I have heard that Madara is... gone. Disappeared."

Reiko shrugged. "Well, yes. He was bound to a place." Her eyes narrowed at him and they stared at each other for another while, her stare suspicious and his blank.

"I see. About this proposition of yours..."

"Yes?"

"What was it again?" He kept staring at her, now looking at her fully, noting everything about her.

She hooked a strand of her hair behind her ear and gave him another little grin. "We fight. One match. If I win, you write your name on a piece of paper and you give it to me, to place in the Yuujinchou."

He nodded slowly, still assessing her. "And if I win?"

"You can do whatever you want with me. You can even eat me", she replied nonchalantly, the small grin having morphed to an easy, confident smile.

He nodded again. "Very well, Natsume Reiko. I accept your challenge." He stood up fluidly, placing the book on a nearby stone plinth covered in green vines.

Reiko did the same, walking to the edge of the trees, near where her satchel sat, to pick out the baseball bat that she had brought with her. She faced him again and returned to the middle of the clearing. The silence hadn't left all the time they had talked, the wind still dead. She grinned and brought up her bat in a mock position of fighting. "Ready?"

.-.-.

Reiko hit the green grass with a thump, a small trickle of blood escaping her lips. She looked up at him, standing calmly above her, his expression not having changed at all the whole time they had fought. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe as deeply as she could with her bruised body.

"Natsume Reiko? Are you well?"

She cracked open her eyes again, only to see him bending down to look at her. There was no concern in his voice or his face. "Yes. Though this is the first time anyone has won against me." She could feel a mixture of shock, surprise, elation and trepidation settle deep in her stomach. Her whole body ached when she made herself sit up. It was better than she had thought; he was a surprisingly gentle fighter for a youkai.

"Good", he said, straightening himself.

Reiko looked mournfully at her bat, broken in half now and lying a few feet away from the. She slowly, mindful for some strange reason of her hurts, stood up. She raised her chin and stared at him. "Well?"

He had turned his back to her, looking up at the blue sky above them. "Well what, Natsume Reiko?" His voice was low, a barely heard murmur.

Reiko let out a frustrated exhale. "Are you going to eat me or not? You won."

"Natsume Reiko", he said, turning slowly towards her, "who said I wanted to eat you? Now, are you truly well?"

She stared at him in shock and surprise. "You... don't want to eat me? Then you must want the Yuujinchou." She frowned when she thought of all those gathered names at this spirit's beck and call.

He shook his head and took a step towards her. "Answer me, Natsume Reiko. Are you truly well? A little physical exertion wouldn't harm you more?"

She blinked stupidly at him. "Wh- What? No, I don't think it would... Why?" She narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious of him.

Now for the second time, he had a proper expression on his face as he smiled and kept moving towards Reiko. "I do not intend to eat you literally, Natsume Reiko. And as interesting as the Yuujinchou sounds, there is something else you can give me that I would like to have much, much more."

The smile was creepy, and Reiko could not help the little smile that curved at her own lips. She _liked_ creepy.

He was standing right before her now. He slowly touched her blond hair, smeared slightly in her own blood from the fight and leant forward. He kissed her chastely and on drawing back, murmured quietly, "You can give me your body, Natsume Reiko." He kissed her again, not so chastely this time.

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><p>What did you think? Basically this fic tells us how Reiko got pregnant with one of Takashi's parents.<strong> Review<strong>s would be much appreciated. They really do make the world go around. :D I'll see what I can make for the drabbles tomorrow.

Ta!


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